Culture

Beer has deep roots in South Africa. That’s no surprise, since it was colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and later by the English. In addition, some tribes such as the Zulu and Xhosa have a history of sorghum and maize-based brewing. The brewing industry there is younger, however, dating to the 1895... View Article

If you were to ask fellow beer drinkers to describe their favorite brewery, where would they start? They’d probably mention things like stainless-steel tanks, certain flagship and seasonal offerings, pot-bellied growlers, the smell of steeped barley, intermittent beardedness, the tall rubber boots… What about their favorite retailer? Perhaps they’d start with the beer aisle or... View Article

Last Round A natural supplement that comes in a 2.4 oz bottle, Last Round is a blend of kudzu root, stevia leaf, green tea leaf, ginko leaf and Ural licorice root. It tastes something like a Ricola cough drop and they recommend one bottle before bed and one bottle when you wake up. Worked for... View Article

Is there a cure for the tragic, albeit self-induced malady?November 1, 2012 -
Ian Lloyd

“Never again is what you swore the time before.” These song lyrics from Depeche Mode summarize our feelings about the curse of imbibing: the hangover. The symptoms are unmistakable: headache, body aches, nausea, fatigue and perhaps tremors. It is of little comfort to know that despite its widespread prevalence, medical science has not developed a cure... View Article

Is it accurate to call gose, a salty, 1,000-year-old German wheat ale, mainstream? The answer from Brewmaster Brian Edmunds at Breakside Brewing in Portland, OR, is decidedly yes. “We actually do—or have done—a number of different ‘Old World’ styles at different points,” he says.

Finding Great Leap Brewing is a distinctly Chinese affair. The journey to the vanguard of Beijing’s nascent craft brewing scene involves leaving a historic tourist strip and wending your way into the old residential city. Here, eccentric old Communist China lingers alongside evidence of the country’s new capitalist dawn, encapsulating what makes life in the... View Article

The logo for Imperial, by far the most popular beer in Costa Rica, is a black predatory bird set against a field of gold. Inspired by the black eagle from Germany’s coat of arms, the logo is so omnipresent in Costa Rica—on bar signs and T-shirts, not to mention the fact that the product itself... View Article

A few years ago, Bill Manley, communication coordinator for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., CA, was at the Great American Beer Festival “when this huge drunk guy saunters up to our booth and says, ‘Gimme your strongest beer.’ We pour him a Bigfoot, and he downs it like a shot. ‘Gimme another one,’ he says. We tell... View Article